Apparatus for lining mine shafts



Jan. 22, 1963 J. A. LILLY APPARATUS FOR LINING MINE smxrrs' 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 7, 1958 INVENTOR. JAMES A. L ILLY 4 u M r r A Jan. 22, 1963 J. A. LILLY mnmms FOR LINING MINE SHAFTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 7, 1958 INVENTORQ. JAMES A. LILLY ATTORNEY Jan. 22, 1963 A. um 3, 2

APPARATUS FOR LINING MINE SHAFTS Filed April 7. 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 F,g.3 loo .3 I I INVENTOR. JAMES A- LILLY ATTORNEY Jan. 22, 1963 J. A. LiLLY APPARATUS FOR LINING MINE swans 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 7, 1958 INVENTOR. JAMES A. LILLY A T TORNE Y United States Patent ()fi 3,7 1,237 Fatented Jan. 22, 1963 ice 3,074,237 APPARATUS FOR LENENG MINE SHAFTS .lames A. Lilly, Qarlsbad, N. Mex. Filed Apr. 7, 1958, Ser. No. 726,821 3 Claims. (Cl. 61-41) This invention relates to mine shafts, in particular to apparatus for lining said shafts and a method of fabricatmg concrete linings in the said shafts.

It is a fundamental object of this invention to provide an apparatus for forming a concrete lining in a mine shaft such that parts of the apparatus or form may be congenieutly used as the lining is cast from the top downwar Another object of the invention is to provide a combmation of segments for forming a concrete shaft lining. such that they may be conveniently handled within the restricted shaft diameter and may be guided and lowered to changed positions with a maximum of convenience.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

The invention, accordingly, is embodied in an apparatus for forming a cylindrical concrete lining in a mine shaft, which is characterized by the combination of a plurality of large segments to make up a major portion of the circumference with a plurality of small segments in relation to the entire circumference of the shaft lining, the segments being shaped to form a continuous shaft liner and joints in the concrete lining, said liner giving a finished concrete surface in the interior of the shaft, with a pilaster provided with means for attaching guides and supports for completing the remainder of the shaft.

Reference to the drawings accompanying this application will give a better understanding of the details of the invention.

In the drawings FIGURE 1, and its parts 111, lb and 1c are a transverse section showing joints in a circular mine shaft with the novel liner of this invention set in place;

FIG. 1d shows an alternate structure for use in the assembly of FIG. 1 as shown by parts 1a, 1b and 10;

FIGURE 2 is a partial vertical section through a mine shaft corresponding to that shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partial vertical section showing a mine shaft equipped with the forms made in accordance with this invention;

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the method of sinking a mine shaft and lining it with concrete carried out in accordance with this invention.

Referring now to FlGURE 1, therein the ground formation 1 is a general representation of a horizontal section through a vertical mine shaft. As is preferred in good mining practice, the raw shaft itself is provided with a concrete lining to seal off water seepage and particularly to prevent crumbling or collapse of the walls. Since the shaft as finished must have a diameter large enough to permit the passage of mining machinery, the raw shaft itself is excavated to a slightly greater diameter than the finished shaft need be and this is accomplished in sections of about ten feet at a time.

Thereupon the problem becomes one of holding forms centered in the shaft, spaced from the sidewalls, so that concrete may be poured around them. Provision must be made in the pouring for supporting the forms from the poured section when additional excavation has been completed and it is necessary to cast additional liner.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 and its parts illustrate details of the inter-relationship of segments of the apparatus of this invention and the relationship of the whole apparatus to the surrounding earth formation as assembled just prior to pouring concrete. In the drawing 1 represents the earth formation comprising the sidewalls of the shaft and 10, 1th, 11, 11, 12, and 12. the main form panels of the apparatus. The circular form is completed with additional narrow units 13, 14, 15.

When a Working depth has been reached the steel form closure segments, the narrow units 13, 1 1, 15 are set in fixed relationship by being bolted at their ends to anchorages 16, 17, 18 by means of bolts 21 21, 22', 2-3, 214, 25. For the structure shown a complete circumference is made with four main panels and four narrow units.

At the bottom of the excavated section, as shown in FIGURE 3, the narrow panels are bolted to a continuous circular ring 1%. It is apparent, thus, that the narrow panels are long enough to extend to the bottom of the excavated depth and thus exceed the height of a main form panel to a substantial extent. This arrangement is to provide for locating the anchorage lines correctly and for handling relatively small sections of extreme rigidity. The elementary structure so formed is a skeleton freely suspended from the surface, if it is the first section at the start of a shaft, or from previously poured concrete. With the use of a spreader template 250, as shown in FIG. 5 the correct cylindrical relationship of the narrow units is established and maintained :and, with proper alignment, the bottom ring is securely blocked with the load carried on jacks.

At a point in the circumference corresponding to the joint between any pair of form segments, e.g., 11 and 11', the closure or narrow unit is provided. Once it is set in place as part of the skeleton structure referred to, it provides means for locating anchorage units in the concrete of the shaft. Thus, a typical anchorage unit is shown consisting, in this case, of l-beam section 16, held in place on panel 13 by bolts 29 and 21 set in anchors 20 and 21'. The I-beam section is useful to give mass to the bolt anchorage. Actually any female connection suitable for being set in concrete and capable of taking the subsequent load of panels will do. By means of such an arrangement spatially on the narrow panel 13, a vertical sequence of accurately placed anchorages is provided.

As illustrated in connection with the closure 13 its outside curvature is made to match the inside curvature of form segments 11 and 11' so that its longitudinal edges are substantially tangent to the edges of the form segments.

A corresponding joint is illustrated in conjunction with the closure or narrow unit 14 which is held in place by bolts 22, 23 and anchorage consisting of nuts 22 and 23 and I-beam section 17. Here the closure segment 14, for purposes of illustration, is made planar and the form segments 18) and 10' are shown planar near their longitudinal edges so that a simple closure by engagement of the flat surfaces at 31) and 31 can be effected.

A third variation of the closure joint is shown in con nection with the closure or narrow unit 15 which is held in place by bolts 24 and 25 and anchorage consisting of nuts 24 and 25', and I-beam section 18. Here the main form segments 12 and 12' are shown as continuous arcs of a circle meeting the planar closure segment 15 with the filler strips 57 and 58 employed to seal the joint and provide the substantially continuous concrete face and pilaster desired.

For holding the main segments in place, the quadrants typified by 10, 11 and 12 are provided with keepers 69 which may be integrally joined to separate form segments 10, etc., the said keeper having undercut section 61 to permit the insertion of filler wedges 62 between the narrow panel or closure segment and the said keeper. Each of the joints around the circumference of a shaft is thus finished off and the details of matching the closure segment to the form segments may be varied to suit the individual conditions. In general I have found the form of closure segment tangent to the form segments, as shown'in connection with panel 13,. to be the most satisfactory in relation to ease of handling of the parts thereof.

The particular structure used to effect this assembly may be varied. For example, in place of sliptype wedges, screwtype wedges t5566 may be used, as in FIGURE ld.

FIGURE 2 constitutes a vertical section through a typical lining which has been terminated with a cutofi form and also shows parts corresponding to parts shown in FIGURE 1. It will be seen that beam section 16 is relatively short and is a section which is cast in the concrete matrix 76. Beam 32 is continuous throughout the length of the concrete shaft to be formed and provides a guide for completing subsequent sections of the liner. Though shown as an i-beam, it may be any section, since it serves essentially as a stitfener for the closure form. If the closure segment itself is stiff enough, this stiffener may be omitted.

Beam sections 43 and 41 which are cast into the concrete lining 7d are placed so as to meet the cars 42 and 43 of the form segments themselves and constitute an anchor means by which the form segments may be held in place.

Thus, in FIGURE 2, 70 represents a concrete lining in. a mine shaft which has been terminated at 71 by a cutofi form. The use of cutofi? forms in cast concrete mine shaft is essentially a conventional operation and a detailed explanation of the use of a typical one may be found in United States Patent 2,667,750.

In FIGURE 2, bolts 44, 45, 46, 47 represent typical supports cast into the section and are the desirable means for locating the next succeeding tier of form segments 11" and 12". The forms are slipped into place and thereafter the beam section 16 which appears in FIG- URE 2, with corresponding sections 17 and 18, provide the substantial means for supporting the subsequent tiers of forms. Thus, the guide beam 32, and corresponding beams 32 and 32", which is of a length corresponding to several form segments is attached to the anchor 16 with the corresponding closure form segment 13. Each beam with its closure segment is bolted in place and thereafter serves as a guide for the placement of the main form segments.

In FIGURE 3 a substantially completed assembly in amine shaft is shown. Therein 1 represents the ground and 100 the actual concrete liner itself. Within the concrete liner are cast the short anchor sections till, 102, etc., corresponding to 16, 17 and 18 of FIGURE 1. It will be seen in FIGURE 3 that the concrete lining has been carried to a level 120 which represents the line formed by the cutoff form. Guide beams 136, 149 and 154 are attached to the respective corresponding anchor sections cast in the concrete liner. The final segment in the shaft liner is the cutofi segment 18tlwhich it will. be seen has a downwardly flared circumference which pro vides a finished face for the concrete shaft liner. It is aligned with the guides, using spreader templates to maintain the correctcylindrical relationship, and then blocked in place with the load carried on jacks.

In understanding how the device is put into actual operation, reference to FIGURES 4, and 6 will be helpful. There the mine shaft 200 in the ground. 1 is shown lined with concrete 201 in which there have. been set a sequence of anchor sections 26 2, 266, etc., at intervals to form anchor points for the shaft lining. Attached to the anchor points are a series of guides 220, 221 which direct the carriage structure 222 which in turn is sus pended by cable 223 from surface winch apparatus. The cage 225 carrying workmen 226 and 227 is lowered to the end of the concrete shaft where the men observe and check the shaft clearance and remove the bolts from the cutofl? forms and loosen the closures. As shown in FIGURE 5, in proceeding further they remove the form wedges and bolts from the inserts and having done so, then detach the closure segments with the cutoff form attached and lower it to its next position. The guides for the super structure are then set in place so that the structure 222 may ultimately be lowered to a depth below that of the joint, the guides then being bolted to the cutoff form. Following this, inserts corresponding to 16, 17 and 18 are then fastened in place and the spreader template 259 is also attached in place with jacks and the closure is plumbed into position. The forms themselves, either individually, or a plurality of quadrant sections bolted together, comprising essentially the entire form for a quarter, are then lowered to the cutoff form and rebolted to the base cutoff form.

Following wedging of the forms in place, as shown in FIGURE 6, concrete is poured at the rate consistent with the task being performed. Generally, in an ordinary mine shaft twenty cubic yards per hour is a useful rate of pour.

From the description of the novel form of making the joints given in connection with FIGURE 1, its parts together with the outline of the method of sinking a shaft, it will be apparent that certain advantages accrue from the accurate fabrication of the forms in accordance with this invention. It is understood, of course, that in the concrete lining of a mine shaft, the lining must be firm and it must be also accurately placed, because certain power machinery, such as the muckers and drill jumboes, require a given degree of clearances and a shaft to be most useful must be made of a given size to close tolerance and clearance kept uniform throughout. Also, it is essential that the shaft have guide means for steering or directing the equipment in the vertical direction.

Reference to FIGURE 1 and its parts will demonstrate that when the shaft is cast using form segments 11, 11, 12 and 1.2, formed in either of the alternatives shown in the several parts of the drawing, the finished concrete liner will have internal pilaster accurately plumbed at each quadrant of the shaft. That is, the method of fabrication utilizing the beams, the supports 16, 17, 18 set in the concrete require accurate alignment in advance and having once been aligned the pouring of the concrete around the form develops the accurately oriented pilaster which has its advantages in the subsequent handling of machinery in the mine shaft.

Although the invention has been described in terms of a single embodiment, it is to be understood that variations thereof may be practiced without departing from its spirit or scope.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for forming a concrete cylinder comprising, first segments each curved and spaced from the other thereby constituting a substantial portion of a surface of a cylinder, said segments each approximating a quadrant but being less than a quadrant, second seg ments each having a dimension greater than the space between said first segments and spanning the adjacent spaced first segments on the inner face of said firstmentioned segments, thereby defining a space for receiving concrete to form a pilaster in the area thus spanned and between the adjacent edges of said first segments, keepers on said first segments receiving wedges, said wedges engaging the second segments to maintain said first and second segments in overlapping edgewise detachably secured contacting relationship to complete a cylinder, said second segments being provided with mounting means secured to their outer surfaces, said mounting means extending into said spaces beyond the outer faces of said first segments, said mounting means after casting of the concrete being retained so as to be accessible for use at the faces of the pilasters.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 which has a filler strip interposed between overlapping portions of said first and second segments.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said first curved segments have planar areas in the portions thereof adjacent to their longitudinal edges, which por- 5 tions are overlapped by said second segments.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 675,355 MacHarg May 28, 1901 6 Albrecht Oct. 10, 1905 Scholz Oct. 24, 1911 Peck May 13, 1913 Meem Nov. 13, 1917 Sharp Oct. 25, 1938 Bain Feb. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1913 Germany Feb. 13, 1917 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR FORMING A CONCRETE CYLINDER COMPRISING, FIRST SEGMENTS EACH CURVED AND SPACED FROM THE OTHER THEREBY CONSTITUTING A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF A SURFACE OF A CYLINDER, SAID SEGMENTS EACH APPROXIAMATING A QUADRANT BUT BEING LESS THAN A QUADRANT, SECOND SEGMENTS EACH HAVING A DIMENSION GREATER THAN THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID FIRST SEGMENT AND SPANNING THE ADJACENT SPACED FIRST SEGMENTS ON THE INNER FACE OF SAID FIRSTMENTIONED SEGMENTS, THEREBY DEFINING A SPACE FOR RECEIVING CONCRETE TO FORM A PILASTER IN THE AREA THUS SPANNED AND BETWEEN THE ADJACENT EDGES OF SAID FIRST SEGMENTS, KEEPERS ON SAID FIRST SEGMENTS RECEIVING WEDGES, SAID WEDGES ENGAGING THE SECOND SEGMENTS TO MAINTAIN SAID FIRST AND SECOND SEGMENTS IN OVERLAPPING EDGEWISE DETACHABLY SECURED CONTACTING RELATIONSHIP TO COMPLETE A CYLINDER, SAID SECOND SEGMENTS BEING PROVIDED WITH MOUNTING MEANS SECURED TO THEIR OUTER SURFACES, SAID MOUNTING MEANS EXTENDING INTO SAID SPACES BEYOND THE OUTER FACES OF SAID FIRST SEGMENTS, SAID MOUNTING MEANS AFTER CASTING OF THE CONCRETE BEING RETAINED SO AS TO BE ACCESSIBLE FOR USE AT THE FACES OF THE PILASTERS. 